If you are a fan of football, and I certainly am, you understand the value of the game plan. You read about coaches spending unheard of hours watching film and devising strategies during the week; this is how they feel they can get an edge on the competition.

Some people decide to buy a car because they have a very specific car in mind for their own reasons. This is understandable, but there are others who are just looking for a decent, reliable car at a good price, and they are open-minded.

New Year’s celebrations have come and gone, and for most parts of the country several months of winter remain. If you live in a snow-prone area, then you’re already familiar with how road salt can affect your car’s appearance. What you may not know is that salt can also promote rust, damage your vehicle’s paint job, and even affect its mechanical operation.

When Ford launched the Taurus in 1986, it turned the automotive world on its ear. Here was a stylish family car that actually wasn’t bad to drive. If you had wanted a midsize sedan that wasn’t designed with a straight ruler in the mid-80s, you would’ve been looking at an “import”. But Ford’s futuristic family car was made in good ol’ America, and that home-grown label helped it to corner the market almost immediately. It remained a best-seller for nearly two decades, but they ditched the futuristic look for the 2000 redesign, and the new ‘sophisticated’ look didn’t resonate with buyers. It was soon relegated to rental agencies and ‘senior living communities’, but it was actually the most refined Taurus to date. So if you need a reliable, non-boring car for under $5,000, the 2000-2007 Ford Taurus is one beater that’s hard to beat. Here’s why…

There is a special kind of sound that the human brain creates when it is instantly overwhelmed with a concussive force so loud and intense that the entire skull is hammered by it rather than just the eardrum.

Never buy a car at night. Never buy a car in the rain. Never bring thousands of dollars in cash to a nearby-yet-unfamiliar-to-you city to a transaction site set up by a person you’ve never met—and who, of course, has an out-of-state phone number—to purchase a car about which you know nothing but what you’ve read and seen in a generic-looking Craigslist ad.

Any idiot knows how batcrap-crazy you’d have to be to buy a pack of gum this way, let alone something as expensive—both to initially buy and then to fix once all its warts reveal themselves in the harsh light of day—as a luxury SUV.

Well, I am proud to say I am certainly not just any idiot. That’s right, folks. I am THE idiot. And welcome to the tale of how I got a better vehicle that I could’ve hoped for despite doing everything I possibly could to get myself cheated, robbed or worse in the process.

If there’s one question that an automotive journalist hates more than “You get paid for that?!” it’s “What’s the best car?” And from this side of the fence, I’d rather be the doctor friend that has to look at every awful thing anyone who knows them wants diagnosed gratis than to be the guy that “misdiagnoses” someone into the wrong vehicle.

I mean really. How hard is it to say, “That’s gross. And malignant. And you’ve got to consort with a better grade of partner if you want that to stop happening.”? I mean, it’s not like you gave them the sore, you just told them that how terrible it was and, in all honesty, how much they deserved it.

No, in my case I will forever be viewed as the one who passed on some terrible, life-destroying plague that cannot ever be cured as the terms of the lease are quite strict and resale values aren’t where they were predicted they’d be, etc., if a single feature is found wanting or the slightest thing goes wonky.

If you want an expert opinion, they say, ask an expert. Well, as an expert, I say something different. Even I can see you clearly need ointment or something for that. Oh, right. Expert car stuff. That’ll take a little longer to explain…

When it comes to owning a truck, storage space is an asset, the most important you have. By maximizing the storage capacity—and function—of your truck bed, you'll be able to carry more tools, more parts, etc., and do more work.

There’s some advice that’s repeated so often it’s almost universally accepted as true, whether or not actual evidence exists to back it up. You’ve almost certainly heard most of these snippets of popular wisdom. Here are some of the more popular ones:• Swimming within a hour of eating causes muscle cramps.• Always brush your teeth after every meal.• Brown bread is healthier than white bread.• Margarine is better for you than butter.• Change your oil every 3000 miles to maintain your engine longer.

The vehicle you choose, powertrain you build, and other components are 90% of what makes a vehicle off-road worthy. Not all are meant to be axle-twisting rigs—many people need their truck or SUV to have decent street manners. On the other hand, pavement isn’t a priority for some—off-road ability is all that matters. Here are the three phases of off-road vehicles and what you need to do to accomplish each.